Utagawa Kunisada (歌川国貞) / Toyokuni III (三代豊国) (artist 1786 – 01/12/1865)
Number 33 (卅三) from the series Magic Lantern Slides of That Romantic Purple Figure (Sono sugata yukari no utsushi-e - 其姿紫の写絵)
1851
14 in x 10 in (Overall dimensions) color woodblock print; ōban yoko-e
Signed: Ichiyōsai Toyokuni ga
一陽斎豊国画
Artist's seal: toshidama
Publisher: Izumiya Ichibei
(Marks 180 - seal 24-058)
Censor: Kinugasa and Murata
Kunisada Project - the whole series
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Waseda University
Tokyo Metropolitan Library
National Diet Library
Rijksmuseum - a late edition
National Museums of Scotland
Victoria and Albert Museum
Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery
The Pushkin State Museum This is print #33, Fuji no Uraba (藤裏葉 - 'New Wisteria Leaves'), in a series of 54. They relate to the modern Genji tales. It is interesting to note that the publisher Izumiya Ichibei adopted a particular seal which has the appearance of being bracketed by a faux-Genji mon. As far as we can tell this seal only appears on this series.
If you use the enlargement tool offered by this site you will notice the small figures in the boat in the background along the left edge of the image. Once blown up to a larger size you will see a figure seated toward the back of the boat. He is wearing a particularly high collar, a costume often seen on the figure of Mitsuuji in other Rustic Genji prints.
Another issue raised by this print is the subject of how difficult it is to translate Japanese titles. The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston refers to this series as Magic Lantern Slides of That Romantic Purple Figure, while Marks translates it as His Figure: Related Copies of Other Pictures. The National Museums of Scotland give yet another translation: Faithful Depictions of That Splendid Figure.
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Note that in the middle ground, in the water, visually near the standing figure in the boat, are a pair of oshidori or Mandarin ducks, a symbol of marital fidelity. The inclusion of these ducks is probably not random, but rather a hint to what the theme of this print really is.
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Illustrated in color in Marks Genji's World in Japanese Woodblock Prints as #82, p. 127.
Izumiya Ichibei (和泉屋市兵衛) (publisher)
Genji related prints (Genji-e - 源氏絵) (genre)